Blessings Or Curses
by BuBBly CaNis luPus
Summary: After a mission, 8 of Konoha's best Anbu are given strange powers. They then find out that they are reliving a legend that happened thousands of years ago. Full summary inside. SasuSaku, NejiTen, NaruHina and ShikaIno
1. Shinshiri Temple

**Woot! Woot! New story that popped into my head! I will still continue my other ones, just at a much slower pace. Thanks for reading!**

**Summary: After a mission, Sasuke, Neji, Naruto, Shikamru, Sakura, Tenten, Hinata and Ino are given mysterious powers. What they find out later is that they are reliving a legend that happened thousands of years ago. Their entire world changes after a single secret is revealed. The destiny of shinobi is up to them. Rated T for Teen. Usual pairings. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Why would anyone think I would? I know I deserve it though… KIDDING!**

_&&&&&_

**Blessings or Curses**

Chapter 1

8 of Konoha's best Anbu stumbled through the gates to the Hokage's tower. Only a moment ago they retrieved a scroll from a strange temple in the north of Konoha's border.

They had fought many missing-nin on the way there and back, but once the stepped into the temple, each shinobi felt refreshed with a strange sense of power. The power was drained from them once they left for Konoha, yet there was an odd throbbing feeling in their stomachs that sapped all their energy.

The Anbu members stood strong and reported their mission to Tsunade, but every hour a shinobi who went to the temple fell unconscious and by now they were all in a coma.

_**&&&&&**_

Tsunade eyed the profiles of the fallen shinobi carefully. Although she was the best medic-nin in Konoha, she couldn't figure out why or how this had happened.

She flipped through the first folder once again and reviewed it cautiously.

**Name: Uchiha Sasuke**

**Age: 20**

**Height: 6'2**

**Weight: 140 lbs.**

**Shinobi Status: Konoha ANBU Captain**

**Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Sharingan, Chidori, Adept at Katon Jutsus**

**Past Records: Betrayed Konoha, Killed Orochimaru, returned 3 years ago**

**Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple**

_Name: Hyuuga Neji_

_Age: 21_

_Height: 6'3_

_Weight: 145 lbs._

_Shinobi Status: Konoha ANBU Captain, heir to Hyuuga Clan_

_Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Byakugan, Adept at Jyuken Jutsu_

_Past Records: Snuck into kunoichi Tenten's apartment (pardoned)_

_Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple_

**Name: Uzumaki Naruto **

**Age: 20**

**Height: 6'1**

**Weight: 137 lbs**

**Shinobi Status: Konoha ANBU Captain**

**Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Rasengan, Nine-tailed fox sealed inside him.**

**Past Records: Was sued by Ichiraku for eating all the ramen **

**Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple**

_**Name: Nara Shikamaru**_

_**Age: 20**_

_**Height: 6'1**_

_**Weight: 130 lbs**_

_**Shinobi Status: Konoha ANBU Captain, Konoha Lead Tactician **_

_**Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Shadow Possession Jutsu, Nara Clan Jutsus **_

_**Past Records: Arrested by Tsunade for being too lazy**_

_**Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple**_

**Name: Haruno Sakura**

**Age: 20**

**Height: 5'8**

**Weight: 115 lbs**

**Shinobi Status: Konoha Anbu, Konoha Lead medic-nin**

**Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Super Strength, Very Adept at Healing**

**Past Records: None**

**Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple**

_Name: (Hyuuga) Tenten_

_Age: 21_

_Height: 5'8. 5_

_Weight: 115 lbs_

_Shinobi Status: Konoha Anbu Co-Captain_

_Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Adept in Weaponry _

_Past Records: None_

_Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple_

**Name: Hyuuga/(Uzumaki) Hinata**

**Age: 20**

**Height: 5'7**

**Weight: 110 lbs**

**Shinobi Status: Konoha Anbu, heir to Hyuuga Clan**

**Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Byakugan, Jyuken Jutsus**

**Past Records: None**

**Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple**

_**Name: Yamanaka/(Nara) Ino**_

_**Age: 20**_

_**Height: 5'8**_

_**Weight: 115 lbs**_

_**Shinobi Status: Konoha Anbu, Konoha Medic-nin, Interrogation Unit**_

_**Special Abilities/Bloodline Limit: Yamanaka Clan Jutsus**_

_**Past Records: None**_

_**Status: Hospitalized in a coma due to unusual visit to Shinshiri Temple**_

Tsunade thought over the situation for the final time and was about to make a conclusion when Shizune burst through the door.

_**&&&&&**_

"Tsunade-sama! They're waking up!" Shizune stopped to catch her breath. "Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, Tenten, Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino have woken up!"

Tsunade stood up immediately.

"Where are they? Take me to them!"

Tsunade and Shizune burst through the room of the awaiting Anbu. The whispering amongst them stopped at once, given that the Hokage had just walked in.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Tsunade's bellowing voice demanded. "You are supposed to be the strongest shinobi in Konoha! What did you guys do?!"

At once everyone, except Shikamaru, Sasuke and Neji, started explaining.

"ENOUGH! One at a time. You'd think that Anbu would have enough common sense to know that they can't all talk at the same time. Geez." She pointed at Sakura.

"Start at the beginning."

_**&&&&&**_

_Flashback_

_They were jumping at full speed toward Shinshiri Temple when missing-nin attacked them. At best, there were at least 3 jonin-leveled shinobi, while the rest were chunin. _

_Of course Konoha Anbu were able to defeat them easily, but there were so many, the 8 of them came out victorious, but exhausted. _

"_Sasuke-taichou, can we take a rest?" the obnoxious blonde suggested. _

_She, meaning Ino, not Naruto, looked to the others, only to see them battered up. Choruses of voices agreed with the blonde and Sasuke was forced to stop. Being the captain of this mission, he circled the place they were to camp. Satisfied, he went to catch some fish with Naruto. _

"_Ugh, I'm exhausted!" Tenten began to fall back into the makeshift bed, when someone caught her. _

"_Tenten, you should know better than to fall back onto a sheet on hard dirt," Neji scolded as he picked her up bridal-style. _

_Tenten looked up and smiled sheepishly. "I only did it 'cuz I knew you'd catch me," she teased. Neji smirked and carried her off to his own bed._

_Hinata watched Tenten in envy; Naruto was busy fishing with Sasuke. She looked longingly at the spot where he disappeared, only to see a fish. _

_Wait, a fish in the air? Hinata looked up from her spot on a log to see Naruto's bright smiling face. _

"_Here, Hinata-chan! I caught the biggest fish for you! We can share now!" he laughed childishly and started to gather wood for the fire. _

_Naruto threw the slimy fish at Shikamaru, who was looking at a map. The fish would have smacked him square in the face if Ino hadn't caught it. _

"_Shika-kun! You should have been watching! This stinky fish almost hit you!" Shikamaru looked up lazily. He smiled slightly and pulled Ino into his lap. She cuddled into his chest and thoughtlessly threw the fish behind her. _

_The fish was headed right toward Sakura's face. She shrieked and dropped all the wood she was holding and caught the fish before it hit her._

"_INO! Watch where you're throwing things, especially when it's alive!" The fish flopped desperately as if to prove her point._

_Sasuke walked up next to her and scooped up the fish from her grasp._

"_It's just a fish, Sakura. Don't tell me you're afraid of them," he mocked teasingly. _

_Nonetheless, Sakura became angry and attempted to whack him on the head. She just missed as he sidestepped. _

"_I'm the captain of this mission, Sakura. I'd advise you to not hit me." He was ignored however when a chunk of wood flew through the air and hit him on the shoulder. Sakura stuck out her tongue and exclaimed:_

"_I'm the medic of this mission, Sasuke. I'd advise you not to piss me off. I might not heal you."_

_Sasuke glared slightly and turned around to start the fire where Naruto had gathered wood. Sakura was smirking when yet another fish was thrown at her. _

"_Since you're not healing me, you don't get to use the fire that __**I **__made." _

_Sakura gaped in surprise._ "_That is so not fair! It wastes chakra to heal something as little as a bruise!"_

"_It wastes chakra to start a fire too," Sasuke replied smugly, thinking he had won the argument when the fish __**he**_ _was eating was snatched out of his hands. _

_Sakura quickly replaced her own raw fish on his stick. She stuck out her tongue childishly and took a bite out of his fish mockingly. _

_The rest of the team laughed quietly at their silly antics, enjoying the show the bickering oair had unintentionally made._

_**&&&&&**_

_After a good night of rest, the team carried on their mission. They were to retrieve a scroll said to have secret jutsus hidden in a temple north of Konoha._

_At mid-afternoon the shinobi had finally arrived at Shinshiri Temple without any problems. The temple was said to have many ninja guarding the place, so they planned carefully before venturing inside. The team of Anbu had decided to attack at midnight to catch the shinobi off guard while they were sleeping. _

_Midnight came and the Anbu ambushed the temple. Once they were inside, each one felt refreshed and replenished with chakra, but there was also a strange source of power that seemed to suddenly burst inside of them._

_It was as if they were given double the amount of chakra they had. _

"_Neji-niisan, do you see it too?" whispered a frightened Hinata. The two had activated their byakugan and were watching the others' chakra networks. The reserve of chakra had expanded and another source of energy flowed through it freely._

"_Hai, Hinata-sama. It's as if we've received more chakra just from straying in this temple."_

"_If that's so, we have to get the scroll and leave immediately. Where is it?" Sasuke's calm voice interrupted everyone's frantic thoughts. They followed Neji instructions and found the precious item quickly._

_Naruto grabbed it and they departed for Konoha immediately. _

"_Sasuke-taichou! There are shinobi outside the temple awaiting us," Hinata announced._

"_Don't do anything rash, just make a path through the ninja and escape immediately. Do not kill unnecessarily." A chorus of 'hai' was heard as everyone left the temple to meet the waiting shinobi._

_**&&&&&**_

_Surprisingly, the extra energy had helped the fellow Anbu members. It acted as another source of chakra, but it was much more effective. Within 5 minutes the team members were running home without anyone chasing after them._

_They all felt refreshed at first, but the additional chakra was starting to take its toll. Each one was drained of the little chakra they had left and fainted on the spot._

_They awoke nearly at the same time, 3 o'clock precisely. The next day they all felt completely drained of all energy. Even soldier pills didn't help them regain their chakra. _

_Afraid to be pursued by missing-nins, the Anbu members left for Konoha at a much slower pace than when they started. When they finally arrived at the Hokage Tower, they all collapsed one by one. _

_Yet no one noticed how the scroll glowed lighter ominously the deeper the shinobi went into unconsciousness._

_End Flashback_

_**&&&&&**_

"Hmm, that sounds suspiciously like the legend mentioned in the scroll you guys retrieved for me," Tsunade pondered aloud, as her brow creased. "It also mentioned something about mystical powers. Do you still feel the strange force received at the Shinshiri Temple?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically and said:

"Yeah, Tsunade-obaachan. It's as if it's throbbing in my stomach, dattebayo! I think it's making me crave Ichiraku ramen!"

Tsunade pointed at Sakura, ignoring Naruto's last comment.

"Since you have the best chakra control out of all of the affected shinobi, focus the other source of energy into your palm."

Sakura nodded and proceeded to focus the odd chakra-like substance into her hand. She frowned when nothing happened when, suddenly, something small sparked into her palm.

As the seconds grew longer, the spark became bigger until it burst into a flame that rested in her delicate hand.

_**&&&&&**_

**Reviews are appreciated!** **Criticism is fine as long as it will help improve my writing, but no flames please!**


	2. Unexpected Powers

**I would like to thank all who reviewed. It encourages me to update sooner! Although I only update when an idea inspires me or when I feel like it… Oh well! I'll try anyway!**

_**&&&&&**_

**Blessings Or Curses**

Chapter 2

Sakura was so surprised by the tiny flame that burned in her hand, she lost concentration and it went out immediately. No one in the room had anything to say to the unexpected surprise.

Not even Naruto or Ino.

Everyone gaped at the now empty palm that had held the fire. Without a word, the rest of the shinobi in the room also tried to focus on the strange source of energy in their stomach.

Neji glared at his palm when nothing happened until the ground started shaking. Since the window to their room was open, dirt and rocks were able to fly to Neji's hand like crazy. Yet his glare was still glued to his hand.

"Great I get to control earth," he stated sarcastically. He glanced at the other shinobi in the room and gasped when Tenten was suddenly wet.

"Gah!" she squealed with surprise. "Neji! Water just, like, appeared in my hand and splashed all over me! Now I'm all wet!" She looked him in the eye and pouted. Neji smirked at her antics.

"What am I supposed to do then? Cover you in dirt and try to dry you off?" Neji answered smugly. Tenten opened her mouth to deliver a witty comeback when Hinata shrieked uncharacteristically. Everyone turned to the shy Hyuuga and looked at her expectantly.

"Anou, there's a flower in my hand." She blushed when she heard herself say it. It sounded so childish. "It just popped into my hand. Do you think that I can grow plants and things like that?" she asked to nobody in particular.

"Oh! I do, Hinata-chan!" Naruto put up his hand enthusiastically. "I think it's cause your pretty and innocent like nature." He grinned goofily and then pouted. "I can't focus the thingy into my hand. It's too hard."

"Dobe. It's simple. I've already got mine to work." All eyes wandered from Naruto to Sasuke. His palm was sparkling with electricity. Naruto was just about to yell a lame comeback when Ino screamed.

"Naruto! Shut up!" People from all over looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Ahh, Ino, Naruto didn't say anything yet." Sakura stared into her friend's wide eyes.

"What? How's that? I swear I _heard_ him say that he would beat Sasuke's ass in any competition even without using his super duper ninja powers. It was as if he were screaming in my ear."

"Interesting." Tsunade glanced at each shinobi before continuing. "It seems that the Shinshiri Temple granted you powers. Sakura produces fire, Neji can control earth, water sprouts out of Tenten, Hinata can grow strange plants just by will, Sasuke can generate electricity and Ino can read thoughts." She looked accusingly at Naruto and Shikamaru. "Naruto doesn't have enough control to concentrate this 'second chakra' and Shikamaru's too lazy."

"Hey, who said I wasn't trying?" Shikamaru's voice was interested, for once. "I can understand what the animals outside are saying. Like that squirrel over there." He pointed to a brown squirrel that was running from tree to tree. "He was just complaining to a buddy that he needed more food for winter."

A look of concentration crossed Tusnade's features.

"Hmm, Ino can you hear the thoughts of everyone in this room?"

"Perfectly. Maybe too well." She paused long enough to glare at Naruto. "But only when I concentrate."

"What about the animals?" Shizune's quiet voice surprised everyone. "I wonder if you can listen to everyone's thoughts or just a selected few. And how far do you think you can be to listen to someone's thoughts…?"

"Good question, Shizune." Tsunade looked at the Anbu members. "I'm assigning you a new mission. Hone these new skills you have until you can use them in battle. You are dismissed."

She stared at them blankly until she realized they were hospitalized and couldn't leave. Blushing, she turned around and stalked out of the room. Before she left, she heard Naruto yell:

"SMOOTH, TSUNADE-OBAACHAN!"

**&&&&&**

Over the next few weeks, while the shinobi were recovering, they practiced using their newfound abilities for as long as they could. Since they were still in a hospital, they could only do so much.

Most of their practice consisted of focusing their 'other chakra' into their palms or various other body parts. With the help of the byakugan, they found out that both chakras were able to flow through the entire chakra network. It made the Hyuuga family members, especially Neji, eager to get out of the hospital to test their brand new skill.

Approximately 4 and a half weeks after their return to Konoha, the 8 Anbu members were freed from the hospital. Or as some called it, the hellhole with terrible food.

They all joined together to practice their new skill in a secluded clearing every chance they got. Each was improving their control over the abilities granted by the Shinshiri Temple, except a certain blond.

_**&&&&&**_

The male Anbu were on one side of the clearing while the female Anbu were on the other. Why?

Simple.

They were having a competition, a very _interesting_ competition. They were playing capture the flag, with a twist. No shinobi skills or weapons, just their unusual chakra. Also, a wager was going on. Whoever lost had to be the other team's slave for two weeks.

Each team was focusing quietly on a plan to steal the other team's flag. Of course no one was allowed to use their ability until the game started, since Ino knew how to read minds.

"Oi! You girls ready yet, or do you need some more time to make sure you don't break any nails?" Sasuke yelled mockingly toward the girls' end of the field. (Very uncharacteristic if you ask me.) "We could give you some more time so you actually have a battle plan!"

"No need for that, losers! That flag is as good as ours!" Sakura's answering call could be heard from miles away.

"Yeah! You ready to get your butts kicked by a few petty girls?!" Ino was surprisingly louder than Sakura. (Ouch. If Sakura's was loud, and Ino's was louder and you were standing right next to her…Ouch)

"Itai! Urusai, Ino! Some people here would like to keep their eardrums, y'know!" Tenten screamed loudly in Ino's ear. Soon enough three of the girls were having a yelling match. The boys smirked smugly, thinking that they would win easily. How they were wrong…

Sakura and Tenten stood as offence, since their powers were better for fighting while Ino and Hinata kept guard of their flag for the same reasons.

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Nauruto were standing at the centreline, waiting for the whistle to blow as Neji Shikamaru stood as offence. Somehow, Shikamaru had persuaded a bird to call out when the game was going to start.

How, you ask? They had bribed him, of course, with food. Terribly evil, huh?

The four shinobi's speed went unmatched as they charged at each other. Naruto was firing blasts of wind from all directions at Sakura's large flamethrower, trying to put it out. But, even the strongest gust of wind couldn't extinguish Sakura's fire. It was even bigger than the Grand Fireball Technique Sasuke specialized in.

Along with Naruto's wind, the fire was growing dangerously. The heat alone could make you faint, but Naruto was well prepared. He ran out of the way when the flame reached him and sprinted toward the kunoichi's flag. Sakura too went to retrieve the other flag as Tenten and Sasuke battled ferociously.

Waves of electricity pummelled against splashes of water as the battle progressed. They almost cancelled each other out, until Sasuke, ever so graciously, tripped over the wet ground. Tenten quickly signalled Hinata to tie him down with her unusual gift, and she succeeded.

Sasuke struggled immensely against the wood that trapped his entire body to the ground, yet he did not prevail. He stared hopelessly at his blonde teammate who was doing terribly.

Naruto, being the klutz he was, was already in Ino's grasp. She was currently pounding him into the ground, where there was an inch thick Naruto shaped hole in the ground. Hinata, the kind and caring one of the group, pitied Naruto and freed him, allowing him to capture the flag and flee.

"Don't you think you're getting off that easily!" Ino howled at Naruto. She began a mad chase toward said boy, leaving a trail of dust behind her.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Tenten were also running toward the centre of the clearing with the boy's flag in their hands. Unsurprisingly, Shikamaru had fallen asleep and Neji was left to defend their flag alone.

Naturally, Neji's earth techniques didn't stand a chance when the water from Tenten's palms soaked them. Neji was left wet and on the side of the clearing with scorch marks from Sakura's earlier attack.

However, Sasuke had finally freed himself from the tomb of dirt when Naruto came rushing by with an angry Ino right behind him. He managed a cocky smirk when he saw what was in Naruto's hands, but it was wiped off instantly when he glanced closer.

Naruto, being a coward when it comes to angry women, was panicking. A lot. So much so that he was unconsciously releasing violent winds out of his hands. The very ones that were holding the object that would declare the boys' victory.

Yes, in simpler terms, he was shredding the flag to bits. Pieces of the broken banner were flying behind him making a trail. By now the only pieced left was the fabric that symbolized the difference between the two horribly made flags. Sasuke groaned when he saw it disappear from Naruto's grasp into the real wind.

A yelp was heard as the boys' flag was electrocuted in Sakura's hands. Damn! She had a mere two feet until she would cross the centreline. She glared at the Uchiha prodigy with a tantrum growing inside her. Ever since she had been appointed the apprentice of Tsunade, her temper had grown shorter and shorter, until it was almost non-existent.

And nobody dared make Sakura angry. Except for Uchiha Sasuke.

He ignored her lethal warnings and regarded her with a smug expression plastered on his face, daring her to hit him. Sakura ran up to Sasuke and smacked his head. His expression changed immediately to one of pure distaste.

"What was that for, Haruno?" Uh oh. Sasuke only called Sakura by her last name when he was really annoyed. Sakura failed to notice this.

"What was what for, Sasuke? You got what you deserved. You burnt our flag, when we were about to win!" By now, the entire gang was watching carefully with a bag of popcorn given that these amusing squabbles happened almost daily between the two.

"What do you mean? It was only fair. I _electrocuted_ our flag cause Naruto ruined yours."

"That's his problem! It's not our fault he ripped it to shreds when Ino was chasing him!. We won fair and square, Sasuke! You _boys _are our slaves for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. We shook on it, remember?"

And so it began. The daily quarrel of Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke.

_**&&&&&**_

Tsunade was concentrating very hard to decipher the scroll given to her from the Shinshiri Temple. Normally, it wasn't her job to do so, but today was an exception. The scroll had piqued her interest. She had only made sense of a few parts of the scroll, when an ominous earthquake reigned over Konoha, creating havoc everywhere it went.

_**&&&&&**_

**Cliffie! What will happen next?! A huge twist, I tell you! R&R please!**


End file.
